Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,100 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $6,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,548,282 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $278,553,000 after buying an additional 429,022 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 7.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,224,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,107,000 after buying an additional 144,701 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 12.0% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,432,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $156,579,000 after buying an additional 153,896 shares during the last quarter. Koch Industries Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 28,363.1% during the second quarter. Koch Industries Inc. now owns 1,397,254 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after buying an additional 1,392,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Edwards Lifesciences by 0.7% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,319,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $156,059,000 after buying an additional 8,946 shares during the last quarter. 81.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) traded up $0.62 on Monday, hitting $126.89. 1,159,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,370,000. Edwards Lifesciences Corp has a 52-week low of $89.20 and a 52-week high of $138.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $26,850.00, a P/E ratio of 44.06, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.63.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.03. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 18.11% and a return on equity of 27.69%. The company had revenue of $888.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $868.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Edwards Lifesciences’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts expect that Edwards Lifesciences Corp will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Edwards Lifesciences declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

In other news, VP Larry L. Wood sold 18,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.76, for a total value of $1,986,249.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Donald E. Bobo, Jr. sold 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.45, for a total transaction of $617,185.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 175,940 shares of company stock valued at $20,049,578. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

EW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $162.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Edwards Lifesciences presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.15.

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Edwards Lifesciences Company Profile

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation is a manufacturer of heart valve systems and repair products used to replace or repair a patient’s diseased or defective heart valve. The Company is engaged in patient-focused innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring. Its segments include United States, Europe, Japan and Rest of World.